The Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2002

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

1.  These Regulations, which extend to England only, amend for the third time the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/1376, “the 1998 Regulations”), which extend to the whole of Great Britain. These Regulations implement Commission Directive 2002/17/EC amending Directive 90/128/EEC relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs (OJ No. L58, 28.2.2002, p.19), except paragraph 1(a) of the Annex and paragraph 2(a)(ii) of the Annex in so far as it relates to the additives benzaldehyde and camphor, which were implemented by the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/2364).

2.  The Regulations amend the 1998 Regulations by—

(a) adding a transitional provision in respect of proceedings for an offence under them (regulation 3);

(b) adding new substances to the list of monomers which may be used in the manufacture of plastic materials or articles and amending the conditions of use of certain monomers used in such manufacture (regulation 4);

(c) adding new substances to the non-exhaustive list of additives used in the manufacture of plastic materials or articles and amending the conditions of use of certain additives used in such manufacture (regulation 5);

(d) adding certain substances to the list of substances whose specifications are set out in Schedule 2B to the 1998 Regulations (regulation 6); and

(e) making a consequential amendment to the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) Regulations 1990 (regulation 7).

3.  A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations and has been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament, together with a transposition note setting out how the main elements of Commission Directive 2002/17/EC are transposed into domestic law by these Regulations. Copies may be obtained from the Chemical Safety and Toxicology Division of the Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH.